A Walk in the Park
by Aki and Tenshi
Summary: Sequel to 'Christmas Miracles' She wished life was as easy as a walk in the park, but really it was the hard stuff that made life worth living. Lit. by Aki.
1. Chapter 1

AN- Here is the much wanted sequel of _Christmas Miracles_. Please read that story first if you haven't already. Second, this story is in a different style than _Miracles_, the chapters are, so far, shorter and more themed, like a series of vignettes telling the story.

- Amber is now about sixteen

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**Sometimes you need to wallow**

Rory lounged on the large leather couch in the sitting room of a new, larger apartment she shared with her family in the New York suburbs reading a worn copy of _Great Expectations_ by Charles Dickens, but a series of noises distracted her from her reading.

Slam.

Crash.

A loud swear.

Stomp.

Stomp.

Stomp.

Bang.

Slam.

Rory reluctantly got up to investigate. She went down the hallway, spying a broken vase on the floor next to a table, to her daughter's bedroom door and knocked on it.

"Honey, are you okay."

"Fine," Amber answered roughly.

Rory raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't sound too convincing."

"I'm fine," repeated Amber, though this time her voice wavering and sad.

Rory checked the doorknob, and finding that it was unlocked opened it slowly and peered in to see Amber lying on her bed in jeans and a white tank top holding a pillow in her arms.

Rory sat on the bed next to Amber and stroked her hair, "What's the matter."

Amber screwed up her face in attempt to keep tear from falling, "Me and Brandon broke up."

"Oh, honey. Why?"

"He…we just did." Rory decided not to push. She knew that look on Amber's face, the one that said she didn't want to talk about it. It was the same face Rory had worn when she had broken up with Dean the first time.

"Are you okay?"

Amber shrugged.

Rory smacked herself on the forehead, "Of course you're not okay. You just broke up with your boyfriend. You need to wallow."

"Wallow?" asked Amber confused.

"Yes, wallow. Eat ice cream and pizza while watching really sad movies and having a good cry."

"And this works?" Amber asked skeptically.

"It is a sure fire way to get over anyone that is not the one in a matter of a several hours, some junk food, and girl time."

"I guess I can try it."

"Come on, then," said Rory, grabbing Amber's hand and pulling her off the bed and sent her to the living room to pick out sad movies.

Amber scrounged the shelves of movies, whether borrowed, rented, owned, or taped off television, feeling rather silly. Many times had she helped pick out movies for marathons, but never ones to intentionally make her sad.

A homemade white label caught her eye and Amber pulled an old tape off the bottom shelf.

…

Rory entered a few minutes later with a large tube of chocolate ice cream, "You ready? Pizza's on the way."

Amber nodded, "I thought we'd start with the 1960's version of _Romeo and Juliet_ followed by _The Notebook,_ and afterwards if were up to it, _Titanic._"

"Going for the tragic love stories?"

Amber nodded biting her bottom lip. The two sat down on the couch and began the marathon.

Barely ten minutes later silent tears were running down Amber's face. They weren't from the movie.

Rory placed a pillow on her lap for Amber to lie down on. She stroke a strand of her daughter's hair behind her ear over and over again whispering gently, "It's okay, baby. It's okay to cry."

Though Rory sounding confident and reassuring for Amber, inside she was hurting to see her daughter in so much pain.

"It's all going to be okay," Rory said repeatedly as Amber broke into sobs.

And though Amber wasn't thinking about it at the time, she was glad her mother was here for this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Aki- **Here is the next chapter. It has Jess.

**Of boyfriends and breakups**

"That bast-"

"Jess!" snapped Rory to silence him.

"What! You're thinking it too," retorted Jess.

"No I'm not. Brandon was a nice kid."

"Nice kid? How can you say that when he just broke our daughter's heart," asked Jess angrily, "I hate him."

"Of course you do," explained Rory, "You're the father. It's like a rule that you have to hate every boyfriend she ever has, before, during and after."

Jess huffed and crossed his arms, "I did hate him when they went out on their first date. I definitely hate him now. But during the middle, I kinda got used to him."

"Told you, nice kid. But you only liked him because you could threaten him."

"Not true," protested Jess.

Rory raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"Fine, very true," shrugged Jess before collapsing on the couch. Rory sat down next to him and he put an arm around her shoulder.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked.

Rory sighed, "She will be, eventually. Breakups are hard, especially with first boyfriends."

"I know," agreed Jess, "I mean when I broke up with my first boyfriend…"

Rory rolled her eyes at him.

"Seriously though, why did they break up?"

Rory shook her head, "I don't know."

"You don't?" he asked skeptically.

"Nope."

"So you don't know who dumped who? What caused it?"

Rory gave a half shrug, "Amber didn't say. I asked her about it, but when I did she got this look on her face. A look I had worn before myself…"

After a moment of silence Jess questioned, "Care to explain."

Rory half-sighed, "It was the same expression I wore after I broke up with Dean."

"Which time?" asked Jess almost mockingly.

Rory glared at him before answering, "The first time."

"The time he told you he loved you and you couldn't say it back and he got all offended."

"Yes, that time," replied Rory, before she paused in thought, "Huh…"

"What?"

"I just realized that that happened with you too."

"What?" repeated Jess, this time confused.

"You also told me that you loved me, and I couldn't say it back and got all upset when I hadn't contacted you about anything," said Rory sitting up straight in thought.

"I wasn't upset," defended Jess.

"Okay," agreed Rory before muttering under her breath, "Not what Luke said…"

"Back to the point…" begged Jess.

Rory clapped her hands together in excitement, "Ooo, and both Dean and you told me you loved me at the Firelight Festival…what are the chances."

"Can we please get back to what the infamous breakup with Dean expression that Amber was also wearing means!" said Jess exasperatedly.

"Oh, calm down cowboy," Rory deadpanned.

Jess glared.

"Okay, the look on her face means that maybe Amber and Brendan's breakup wasn't Brendan's fault. Maybe it was Amber's, or she blames herself for it, thus she is embarrassed, if that is the right word for it, to tell me or anyone else what really happened."

"But why would she care so much is it was her fault."

"Well, I know from experience, that she doesn't want anyone to reaffirm that it was her fault or tell her how she should have handled it and go on and on about what might have been."

Jess laid his head back on the couch cushion to stare at the ceiling, "Girls are confusing."

"I prefer the terms complex and deep."

"Whatever you want, honey," mumbled Jess in reply.

Rory snuggled into his chest and rested her head on his shoulder and the couple sat in a blissful silence for a few moments.

"Whatcha thinking?" asked Rory."

Jess sighed and answered, "He was her Dean."

"What?" asked Rory, sitting up, perplexed.

"Brendan, he was Amber's Dean. Her good first boyfriend. The one who treats her right and won't dare try anything, who is polite to the parents, and is the perfect guy."

"What the big deal?"

"You know what comes after the good first boyfriend?"

Rory gave Jess an odd look, but did not answer.

"Me," Jess answered pointing to himself, "The bad-boy boyfriend. The one the lives on the edge and smokes cigarettes, if we're lucky, and fights and skips school, if he is even in school, and doesn't actually care about the girl."

"Hey!" exclaimed Rory offended.

"Well, not me," Jess defended, "But guys like me."

"You really passionate about this aren't you?" asked Rory, smiling from contained laughter and Jess' outbreak.

"Yes, I am."

"You don't want Amber dating a Jess."

"Nope, not a Logan either, but an early Dean, not the Dean that cheats on his wife."

"Did we really need to bring that up?" asked Rory pointedly.

"No," said Jess, leaning back into the couch.

"You know what?" asked Rory.

"What?"

"You're really sexy when you get all fatherly and protective like this," smiled Rory.

"Really?" smirked Jess, "I'll have to see what I can do about that." Jess snaked an arm around his wife's waist and pulled her close to him. Running his free hand through her hair the two kissed, long and passionately.

When Rory pulled back to catch her breath she cocked her head to the side in thought, "A Marty wouldn't be bad either."

"What are you talking about, woman?"

* * *

Next chapter- A Jess and Amber father-daughter moment


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning-**Jess is a bit out of character this chapter

**My little baby girl**

Amber stretched when she awoke from a long sleep in on Saturday. She groggily rose from bed and slowly shuffled her way to the kitchen. She had hoped that her dulled senses from sleep would have blocked out her memory of what happened yesterday, but Amber had no such luck. She still remembered the breakup and it still made her feel horrible.

"Hey, baby girl."

Amber jumped slightly at the sound of her father's voice as she passed through the living room, not seeing or expecting him because she was lost in her own thoughts.

"I was wondering when you were going to get up."

Amber grunted tiredly in response.

"Why don't you sit down and talk to your old man for a while," said Jess, nodding to the seat next to him n the couch.

Amber plopped down and yawned, "Yeah?"

"Are you okay, baby girl?" asked Jess, again using Amber's pet name he gave her when he realized she had become a teenager and he was not found of the fact that she was growing up. Despite Amber's dislike for the nickname at first, it somehow stuck.

Amber shrugged, "I'm fine."

"So I don't need to beat up anybody, your ex-boyfriend perhaps."

"No."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure," replied Amber with an eye roll.

"If you say so, but if you change your mind you know who to come to," insisted Jess.

"Dad…" Amber whined.

"Honestly, are you really okay?" asked Jess again.

"Honestly? No," Amber shook her head. "I feel," she sighed, "Miserable. I don't know what to do or what to say. It's like everything made sense before but now… the world is full of blurred lines and uncertainties. Is it totally irrational to feel this way over a stupid breakup?"

Jess shook his head, "No, when you're hurt you are allowed to feel mixed up."

"I guess," shrugged Amber, "But is it okay to feel …scared?"

Jess didn't answer for a moment.

"Did I ever tell you about the first night I brought you home from the hospital?

Amber shook her head.

"You were just this little thing. Six pounds, eight ounces, yet you scared me more than anything in the world."

Amber grinned slightly, "Well I am scary if I say so myself."

"And that first night," Jess continued, almost nostalgically, you just kept crying and crying so I tried feeding you, changing you, burping you, rocking you, nothing worked, and I just couldn't figure out how to make you shut up."

"Hey!"

"But then," said Jess, eyes lighting up, ignoring Amber's offended protest, "I was so tired that I had to sit down, and when I did I held you against my chest my heartbeat lulled you to sleep. Of course, then I fell asleep too. So that first night, we fell asleep together."

Amber smiled, "That's sweet…but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, the point is that world can hurt and scare us, that's life. But no matter what happens you will always be my little baby girl and we will able to get through it together."

"Thanks, Dad," smiled Amber as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he hugged her back, not wanting to let her go.

After a minute Amber asked, "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I go now?"

"Oh, 'course," said Jess letting her go and watching her exit to the kitchen.

Even though Jess had told Amber that he was scared the day he brought her home, there was no why he could explain how utterly terrified he had been. How frightening it is to suddenly be responsible for the life of another human being, especially one so small and delicate that had no way to take care of itself or protect itself from the world. Back then Jess had not honestly known how he would make it through.

He was happy for the young lady his daughter was turning into, but he was experiencing a new kind of fear. She was entering a world were he couldn't always protect her, a world that she had to face on her own. Even more, Jess was scared of letting Amber go. He knew it was still a long way off, but everyday it seemed to be more rapidly approaching.

Jess planned to live up to his word from earlier. Always Amber was going to be his little baby girl…always.

And nothing could change that fact.

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Next chapter- enter Lorelai 


	4. Chapter 4

**Aki-** Okay, I know this story is starting a little slow especially compared to Christmas Miracles (which was like drama, drama, drama), but trust me, hang in their, the drama and fights and even humor are coming.

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**Monday Morning Phone Calls**

"Bye, Amber," wished Rory as her daughter left the apartment to go to school Monday morning.

"Is she going to be okay?" Jess asked Rory as they both sat in the kitchen drinking coffee.

"Well, she broke up with her boyfriend on Friday and now she will have to face him again, plus everyone probably has heard and will be asking her questions like when and how and why… so yeah, her day will be just peachy"

"It's nice to know everything will be fine," replied Jess sarcastically before checking his watch, "Oh, gotta go, see you later," he said giving his wife a peck on the cheek before leaving.

"Bye," she smiled and watched him leave before going to the phone for her Monday morning tradition. It was sad that she had to put aside time to call her mother, her best friend, but she found that when things got hectic she end up going weeks without talking to her and it was horrible.

"Luke kicked me out of the diner!" Lorelai complained loudly over the phone before Rory even had a chance to say hello.

"Again?" questioned Rory slightly amused.

"Yes, and I didn't do anything to provoke it this time."

"You didn't do anything?" asked Rory skeptically.

"Well saying suggestive and potentially embarrassing lies about sex life loud enough for the whole diner to hear doesn't really count."

"Not more mounty hat jokes. Please tell me you didn't," begged Rory.

After a short pause Lorelai agreed shamefully, "I did."

"You should know better."

"I know, but now he is never going to let me back in and I'm going to starve!"

"Stop being so dramatic."  
"Oh, easy for you to say, when you aren't forbidden to enter the diner."

"He forbade you?" asked Rory with interested glee.

"Stop getting your pleasure from my pain," Lorelai commented back.

"Sorry, I can't stop. You taught me well."

"True," conceded Lorelai with a hint of pride in her tone.

"Are we still good for this weekend?" asked Rory, changing the subject.

"Yes. Do you guys want to stay at the house, above the diner, or at the inn."

"That depends. Are Luke and you going to do anything dirty this weekend."

"That depends on whether he has gotten over the mounty hat comments by then…," said Lorelai suggestively.

"Just promise me that any dirtiness will occur in the apartment above the diner and we will stay at the house."

"Okay, if you insist…oh, by the way I might have, accidentally and unintentionally, mentioned to Grandma that you the three of you were coming to Stars Hollow this weekend."

"You didn't!"

"And now you are expected for a diner on Friday," concluded Lorelai swiftly, "I thought you liked your grandparents so don't kill me."

Rory sighed, "I won't kill you, but I can't make any promises for Jess."

"Speaking of Jess, how's Amber?"

"How is that a speaking of Jess?"

"It's not, so how _is_ Amber?"

"She broke up with her boyfriend."

"Oh, bummer!"

"Yeah, she was pretty upset."

"But, if she is still upset when you came down next weekend, it looks like it is a cheer up job from her favorite grandmother slash great aunt."

"You love trying to dominate both those roles don't you?"

"Very much."

"Where are you, by the way?" asked curious Rory hearing strange sounds in the background.

"Luke's"

"I thought you were kicked out."

"I am. I'm sitting on the stairs in front of the diner looking pitiful…and hungry."

"Something you are an expert at doing."

"Yes, as well as being an expert at looking beautiful."

"Okay, tell yourself that," replied Rory without missing a beat.

"Hey, be nice to Mommy, I gave you life," returned Lorelai in a fake offended tone, "And also passed down some of my magnificent beauty, thus I am also selfless."

Rory couldn't help but chuckle at her mother. Despite her gained years she was still the same humorous and admirable woman she had been the whole time Rory had been growing up.

* * *

Next chapter- enter the Gilmore's. Yes you will experience a Friday night dinner 


	5. Chapter 5

**Dinner and Disaster **

"Can't we not go and tell them we got in the car accident?" asked Jess.

"That is not a suitable alibi for the Gilmore's unless we are hospitalized," replied Rory, not taking her eyes off the road.

"What if I get violently sick?" Jess pondered like he was actually considering it.

Amber snickered from the back seat.

"Do you have something to add?" Jess asked her, raising his eyebrows.

"It's only dinner. It is not that bad."

"Easier for you to say, they like you."

"We're here," called Rory from the driver's seat.

"I'm telling you," begged Jess, "Car accident. It's not too late"

Rory glared at him in the mirror as she pulled through the gate and parked. The three went up to the door and Rory rung the bell.

Emily answered the door. "Rory, darling, it is good to see you," she said, giving her granddaughter a hug. "And Amber too," she said with equal zeal, hugging her great granddaughter also. "Jess," she added with a fading smile and stiff nod. Jess nodded back. "You're late."

"Sorry, Grandma," said Rory, drawling back her attention, "Traffic was heavy."

"Well, dinner is ready now. Do you not mind if we skip drinks."

"Not at all."

As Emily lead them to the dinning room Jess stopped Rory and whispered to her, "Notice how she looked pointedly at me when she said, 'You're late.'"

"Jess, you're being paranoid," said Rory shaking her head before going into the dinning room.

"Ah, my favorite grandchild and great grandchild," said Richard, who was already their waiting, warmly.

"Grandpa, we're your only grandchild and great grandchild," smiled Rory.

"More reason for you to be my favorites," Richard grinned, sitting back down after his greeting. "Oh, hello Jess," he added as an afterthought after spotting him.

Jess caught eye contact with Rory. She just shrugged and sat down. Jess followed her suit.

"So what is new with you?" asked Emily enthusiastically toward Rory as the maid set salads before them.

"Not much actually, but Jess just finished his final draft for his new book and it will be out in a few months."

"Oh, how nice," said Emily with a fake smile. She did not really approve of Jess trying to support a family with a job that did not have a guaranteed pay check every week, a retirement plan, pension, or insurance attached.

"You'll have to send me one," added Richard, who neither liked Jess's choice of profession, but still found his books worthwhile to read.

"I will," said Jess genuinely, thankful for the break of subtle Jess- bashing and ignoring.

"So Amber, how is school?" asked Emily politely, changing the subject.

"Very good, I just turned in a big project last week."

"It's a shame you don't live closer, because I know you could get into Chilton, with your grades and connections," said Emily in almost a bragging way.

"Were actually looking into a private school up n New York, Grandma," added Rory.

"That's good. And speaking of school, how is you're night school going Jess."

"Fine," replied Jess with a monosyllable.

"What are you working towards now? High school diploma is it?" asked Emily.

Jess didn't answer, but stabbed a piece of lettuce in his salad just a little too hard with his fork.

"Grandma," said Rory, answering for her husband, "We've been through this before. Jess is working on his Bachelor's now. He got his high school diploma years ago."

"Well, I do admire the pursuit of higher education," said Emily, "Especially trying after not succeeding the first time around."

Jess suddenly stood up and all eyes shot to him.

"Excuse me," he muttered before exciting the room.

About ten minutes later after the salads had been exchanged for the main course Jess still had not returned.

"He sure has been gone for a long time, his food is getting cold," commented Emily on Jess' absence.

"I'll find him, Grandma," said Rory, dismissing herself from the table.

Rory wandered slowly through the halls, peeking into each room as she passed. She finally found him outside, on the back patio.

"Hey," she said walking up to him. He grunted in response.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked, standing next to him.

"Trying to come up with the best way to kill myself to get out of the rest of dinner."

Rory was silent for a moment, "Come up with anything good."

"Stabbing myself with the salad fork, but that wouldn't be a proper thing to do at the dinner table."

"Emily Post says."

"Then I thought of throwing myself off the roof, but Emily just had the patio redone and I wouldn't want to stain it with my blood."

"How thoughtful of you."

"And now I'm, just standing here hoping that some wild animal will come along that I could provoke to attack me."

"The Gilmore Mansion has a wall around it, so any chance of a crazed lion escaping the zoo and coming here, to you, is pretty slime."

"I figured so much when the lion didn't show five minutes ago."

"Come back inside. You're being missed."

Jess scoffed, "Yeah right."

"Come on," jested Rory, "My grandmother has to practice directing subtle, yet insulting comments towards somebody."

"Huh," Jess said, but didn't budge."

"Seriously," said Rory, "Come back in, eat dinner, be on your best behavior, actually talk and not let Emily dominate the conversation."

Jess raised an eyebrow, "She'll criticize whatever I talk about."

"Talk about me. There is no way she can criticize that," commented Rory with a smirk.

"So I should go in and make nice with them."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"If this is some sort of delaying tactic, it won't work."

"No really, why?"

"Because they are your grandparents-in-law." Jess looked at her, but did not say anything, "Because you will have many occurrences like this in the future and you should learn to get along with them…Because you love me."

"You two," interrupted Emily from the house door, having decided to look for the absent dinners herself, "The food so not eating itself."

Jess grimaced and whispered to Rory, "You owe me."

"Dually noted," she said leading him back to the house.

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Next chapter- Welcome to Stars Hollow 


	6. Chapter 6

Aki-Here is the next chapter. Just note that Lorelai doewn't hate Jess, she just likes to aggrivate him.

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Pecking Order**

"Mom, we're here," called Rory as she opened the door to her childhood home.

"Hey, my favorite daughter and granddaughter slash great niece," greeted Lorelai as Rory and Amber entered the living room.

Rory glanced at Amber, "Do you want to field this one?"

"And Jess," added Lorelai as he came in afterwards, having been delegated to carry his and the girls' luggage.

"You know, technically," said Jess, dropping the luggage on the living room floor unceremoniously, "I would be your favorite son-in-law, because I am the only one."

"And Jess," repeated Lorelai in the same exact tone as before.

"Mom, be nice, Jess had to deal with the Gilmore's tonight."

"I know," she smirked.

"How can you get pleasure from this?" asked Jess aggravated.

"Well, because, for so long, that was me."

"Huh?"

"I used to be at the bottom of my mother's pecking order, but now Amber and Rory are pretty much equal at the top, but Emily likes me less then them, likes Luke lees than me, and likes you less than Luke."

"Who does she like less than me?" questioned Jess.

Lorelai cocked her head to the side in thought for a moment before replying, "No one, you're at the bottom."

Jess growled under his breath and stormed off to the kitchen

"Mom, seriously be nice," said Rory despite her smile from trying to contain laughter, "Jess was trying to commit suicide during dinner and I had to convince him otherwise."

"Oh, so that's why you guys were missing for so long. I was wondering what happened," commented Amber, who was already crashing on the couch.

"Are you sure that's why they were missing so long," Lorelai questioned suggestively raising an eyebrow.

"Dirty," laughed Amber.

Rory just shook her head at the two of them, "I must be the most mature room person in the room."

"No, that would be me." The three girls turned to see Luke half way down the stair in rumpled pajamas, "I have an early delivery tomorrow and am trying to get some sleep, so if you could keep it down…"

"Okay, old man, we'll let you get some sleep," said Lorelai rolling her eyes. Luke just gave her a look, but didn't reply.

"Where's Jess. I thought he was coming with you?" asked Luke, noticing his absence.

"He's detoxifying from an overload of Emily," answered Rory.  
"Ah," said Luke in understanding, "Well, night Rory, Amber."

"Sure, forget your wife," muttered Lorelai as Luke disappeared upstairs.

"That reminds me, did you two get over the whole getting kicked out of the diner thing."

"We got over it," said Lorelai before adding with a wicked grin, "And_ we got over it_, if you catch my drift."

"Dirty," retorted Rory, and the three girls snickered.

"I heard that!" yelled Luke's muffled voice from upstairs.

Lorelai looked up the steps in disbelief, "I swear he has the ears of an elf."

…

Later that night when things had calmed down and everyone was getting ready to bunker down for some sleep, Jess and Rory were in her old room.

"You know what I realized," said Rory after she changed into her pajamas, "Amber is sixteen."

"Thought you would of realized that when we celebrated her birthday," retorted Jess tiredly.

"No, seriously. Sixteen. Soon she will be grown up, going off to college, moving out, getting married," said Roy almost wistfully

"Woe, lets not get ahead of ourselves, Amber still has a while to go yet," said Jess, Rory having gotten his full attention.

"Jess, you have to see that she is growing up. She is no going to be your little girl forever," said Rory, not accusing, but tenderly, sitting down on the bed.

Jess sat down next to her, "She's been my life for the last sixteen years. It's hard to believe that one day she will be on her own, without me."

"I know," whispered Rory touching Jess's cheek gently with her fingertips before letting her hand drop away, "That's what got me thinking. We're not that old,"

"No," said Jess, mildly confused at the change in the conversation.

"So, I've been pondering this for a while, I want to have another baby…Jess?"

"Huh…"

Next chapter- What Jess says


	7. Chapter 7

**Fights and Fiascos **

Jess sat groggily on at the counter in Luke's Diner the next morning, head lying on the counter between his arms.

"Are you okay?" asked concerned Kirk next to Jess, poking him on the arm.

Jess grunted meanly in response and protest.

"Coffee?" asked Luke, almost as a joke, as he came behind the counter. Jess lifted his head off his arms to look at Luke for a moment before nodding. Luke set a cup before Jess and poured him some Lorelai strong caffeinated coffee.

Jess sat up all the way reluctantly and took a large sip from the mug and then sat as he reveled in the glorious wonder as the caffeine brought some of his dulled senses alive.

"Um, Jess, the diner is packed today, so when you're done their can you give me a hand?"

"Sorry, Luke," retorted Jess, some of his energy restores, "My diner days are over….but maybe when I'm finished."

Luke glared at him, "Fine."

So instead of helping Jess sat on his stool and watched Luke run around the diner in amusement, making sure to drink his remaining coffee extra slowly as to not be roped into busing tables or to give up his spot to a waiting customer. Jess could be very cruel sometimes. He thought it a rather handy attribute.

A good half an hour the rush had died down and Jess had still managed to avoid helping with a refill and a doughnut.

"What put you in such a _charming_ mood this morning?" asked Luke as he was wiping down the counter with a rag.

"Have you ever tried sleeping on that couch of yours? It is the single most uncomfortable thing I have ever been on. I tossed and turned all night."

"I thought you were sharing the bed with Rory."

"I was. But you know how small Rory's bed is?"

Luke nodded.

"You kind of have to be in a cuddling mood to share it," said Jess cryptically.

"And you guys weren't?" questioned a confused Luke.

"We had a sort of," Jess trailed for as in for search of the right word, "Disagreement last night."

"Oh," said Luke in understanding acknowledgement, setting down his rag to give Jess his full attention, "About what?"

"Well, all of the sudden Rory said she wanted to have…"

"Yes?"

"She said she wanted to have a baby."

"Wow!"

"I know."

"What did you say?"

…

"Nothing!" asked Lorelai is disbelief.

"Nothing," repeated Rory in confirmation, mother and daughter talking over breakfast delivered from Luke's at the kitchen table, "I told him that Amber was soon going to grown up and moving out and that we were not too old and I wanted another child. And he said, 'Huh-'"

"In that annoying little way he did when he was seventeen?" interrupted Lorelai.

"And that's all he said…like my request was lunacy or something."

"Oh, that little punk," fumed Lorelai.

"Mom," Rory said indignantly, "That little punk is your little girl's husband."

"But your mad at him right?" Rory rolled her eyes at her mother in spite of herself.

"And he slept on the couch?" asked Lorelai without getting an answer for her previous question.

"Yup," Rory replied with a sort of fire in her eyes.

"Oh, man," said Lorelai with a few evil laughs under breath, "I've had that couch since we moved in this house."

"I know… that is one old, uncomfortable couch. Why haven't you and Luke gotten a new one."

"Because I can't dare part with it," said Lorelai placing a hand over her heart, "It's like a memorial, a new stage in our lives, a steeping stone from a rough beginnings. A memorial of us moving into this house."

"I think the actual house is a memorial of us moving into this house," retorted Rory mockingly.

"Luke and me tried, but we get in arguments at the furniture store…and the grocery store, and clothing store, basically anytime we try shopping together," explained Lorelai.

"That sounds more like it," agreed Rory.

"Remember the window curtain shopping fiasco of 2008?" asked Lorelai with a smirk.

"Very well."

"Morning," said a voice from the doorway, Amber.

"Hey their sleepyhead," said Lorelai in a too cheery voice, "I was wondering when you were going to get up."

"Ha, ha, ha," said Amber dryly as she shuffled into the kitchen to get some breakfast.

"Mom, give her a break. She's a teenager, she needs her sleep."

"Hey, I'm old and _I_ need my sleep, but I was up before six in the morning," said Lorelai in a preaching way.

"That's because Uncle Luke woke you when he had to get up to go to the diner," retorted Amber.

Lorelai just gave her a look.

"Wrong answer," whispered Rory to Amber as Lorelai sat huffily on the opposite side of the table. Amber looked at Rory bemused.

"It was a test," Rory explained. "This is the right response..." continued Rory before telling Lorelai, "Mom. You're not old."

"That's it!" said Lorelai, pointing at Rory wildly across the table, "That's why you're my favorite."

Amber looked amused at the two before ignoring them and eating breakfast

* * *

Next chapter- you will just have to wait and see _hint_ drama_ hint_


	8. Chapter 8

**On that Sunday Afternoon**

Amber could cut the tension in the car with a knife. All packed away in their car driving back to New York on Sunday afternoon, Jess and Rory had been snubbing each other the whole way.

"Turn here," said Rory emotionlessly and extremely calm.

"I know," replied Jess curtly.

They had been that way during the whole drive, neither saying more than necessary. Amber just leaned back into her seat and turned on her walkman, she would figure out what was going on eventually, she always did. Both of her parents were horrible at being subtle and keeping secrets, as evident in Amber's ninth Christmas.

When the arrived home later that day the unpacked in silence, it was almost uncanny. And though Amber knew that she would learn what was dividing her mother and father in time, she really did not real like wasting her remain weekend in the middle of it.

"Hey Mom, Dad?" said Amber getting their attention when she walked into the living room, where they were listing on opposite ends, reading.

"Yes?" replied Rory, looking up from her book.

"I'm going to go hang out with Cassie at the mall, if that's okay."

"Do you need the car?"

"No, she's picking me up."

"Just be back by curfew, it's a school night."

"I will…bye."

"Bye," said Amber, almost releasing a relieved breath as exited the war zone before the battle broke out.

A few minutes later the estranged couple heard the door close behind their daughter and the silence that ensued was anything was soothing. It wasn't long before one of them snapped.

"Rory," said Jess in tone that clearly said he could not stand the tension, as he put down his book on the desk beside him.

Rory glanced over the top edge of her book with an anything but forgiving look. "I don't know what to say to you right now Jess."

"You've been shutting me out," Jess persisted. "We need to talk."

"Yes, we should have," said Rory angrily, setting down her book. "Last night in fact, but one of us, clearly, had nothing to say."

"Oh, don't do that. You shocked me. I wasn't expecting _that_, not in a million years."

"I might have been a little upset if you said you didn't want another child," started Rory spitefully, "But saying nothing at all…that hurt, Jess. More than anything else."

"What do you want from me!" asked Jess standing up.

"I want to know what you think about another child!" yelled Rory, standing up herself.

"I don't know," replied Jess loudly, voice cracking slightly.

"You don't know," repeated Rory in skepticism, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, I don't," said Jess, calmer than before. "I never thought about it before. I never even humored the idea."

"You haven't?" asked Rory, tilting her head to the side in more or less disbelief.

"No," answered Jess, taking a half of step toward her. "Amber sort of just happened, you know. I never planned on having a kid before."

"Well, I want to have another baby. I want to see him or her growing up. I missed that the first time around," said Rory earnestly.

"Well, whose fault was that?" said Jess, regretting the moment it came out of his mouth. He cursed his sarcastic habits.

The anger that had faded from Rory's face suddenly filled it again, with time mixed with indescribable sadness. "I thought," spoke Rory in a hoarse whisper that slowly built up to a strong voice, "That we had gotten over that. I thought it was in the past and that you had forgiven me…but I guess I thought wrong." Her eyes filled with angry, hot tears, but none fell.

"Ror," said Jess in a soft almost begging voice, stepping forward reaching out his hand toward her arm, the whole time hating himself for the way he had lashed out. Rory stepped back away from him shaking her head with a sickened look on her face as though she could not speak for fear of letting the tears that had welled up in her eyes fall.

And Rory continued to back up, out of the living room and then she turned around and went down the hall to their bedroom. Jess heard the door close. It was not slammed nor did he hear the lock click. He knew he didn't have the courage to go in.

It looked like Jess would be spending another night on the couch…

* * *

Next chapter- it's entitled, 'A date, a Jess, and a Conversation'…speculate as you will 


	9. Chapter 9

**Aki- **Some of you readers might think Rory gets too much to be a martyr, but _it is part of the story_. It is really hard to make people feel bad for Rory with the whole 'X-mas Miracles' fiasco hovering over her head. But Rory is going to get martyred some more before I discuss an important point many reviewers had in "Miracles," How Amber and Jess forgave her so fast, …or if they actually did.

**

* * *

**

**A Date, a Jess, and a Conversation**

Jess and Rory managed to get to Wednesday with no more arguments as well as being civil to each. They were sleeping in the same room again and talking, when necessary. It seemed both were living in the unspoken agreement that if you don't speak about it, I won't. But this meant no more meaningful conversations, no more playful debates about the credibility of authors, no more…anything.

Rory was sitting in front of her computer, biting the end of her pen out of habit, trying to come up with the perfect word as she was editing one of her articles.

"Hey, Mom," said Amber as she entered the room.

Rory checked her watch surprised that Amber was home from school already, "Hey, hon." And then after seeing her smile added, "What are you so happy about."

"I'm going out tonight," Amber answered with a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh, with your girlfriends?" asked Rory, wanting clarification.

"No," said Amber, obviously having planned to build up to this dramatic moment, "I have a date."

"With who?"

"A guy," answered Amber cryptically.

"Well, I hoped so," replied Rory. "Who is this guy?" she asked, not in a worried mother way, but an interested friend way.

"Me and Cassie met him at the mall, we ran into him at the smoothie stand-,"

"Ah, the smoothie stand move," Rory said as she nodded as in approval. Amber gave her mother a weird look. "I really don't know what I'm talking about. I never hung out at the mall."

Amber rolled her eyes and then continued with her story. "Well, we ran into at the smoothie stand and we got to talking about what schools we went to and such, we had some good laughs, then parted ways. Never thought I would see him again in my life and then today he was outside of school waiting for me at the end of the day. He told me he couldn't stop thinking about me and then asked me out on a date," Amber concluded with a glowing smile on her face.

"That's so cute," crooned Rory, a girl who was sucker for a good romance.

"And you know the best part was?" quizzed Amber.

"What?" asked Rory in anticipation despite herself.

"Brendan saw the whole thing," concluded Amber, almost vindictively, "You should have seen the look on his face."

"Oh," said Rory with disappointment in here tone, but Amber didn't notice.

"I've got to get ready," said Amber, as though it just suddenly hit her and she rushed off to her room. Rory followed her to find her ravaging through her closet.

"Amber?"

"Umm?"

"Do you like this guy?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm going on a date with him," Amber answered as she pulled several shirts off their hangers.

"What's his name?" asked Rory.

Amber stopped and looked at her mother before answering, "Devon."

"What's his last name?  
Amber bit her bottom lip, but did not answer.

"You don't know?"

Amber shook her head reluctantly.

"Amber," said Rory walking over to her daughter, "I just want to make sure you are not just dating this guy to get back at Brendan. I've done that before and it is not a good reason to date someone."

"Mom, jeez, I'm not. I like Devon."

"If you say so," Rory gave in.

"I say so. Now I need to change." Rory took the message and left.

An hour or two later there was a knock on the door.

"Mom, can you get that. I'm not ready," yelled Amber a few rooms away.

"Got it," Rory yelled back as she went to the front door. She opened it to reveal the boy with dark brown, almost black hair in a leather jacket standing behind it.

"Hello, you must be Devon. I'm Amber's mom, Rory," greeted Rory politely with a bright smile.

Devon just nodded, expression grim and replied, "Hey."

Rory smile shrank a little bit, "Well, Amber will be out in a minute."

Devon's head bobbed in a slight nod.

"She's just finishing up," added Rory.

Devon nodded again.

"Well, come on in." Rory invited him in and shut the door behind him. He stood uncomfortably by the wall. Rory opened her mouth as to say something, but after a second thought, closed it and walked away.

"Oh, Devon," said Amber with smile when she came into the living room wearing jeans that looked like she out grew them years ago with a baby blue tank top decorated with rhinestones that brought out her eyes with more makeup than she usually did.

"Hey," he replied, though this time with slightest hint of a smile, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Mom, we're going," Amber told her mother loudly as she and Devon exited the apartment.

"Remember curfew," Rory shouted after her as the door slammed close. She lay back on the couch and sighed.

Not long later, when Jess arrived home, he found his wife laying on the couch with a strange expression on her face, staring at the ceiling. Jess approached her slowly and observed her curiously.

"Are you okay?" he asked carefully.

"Amber's on a date tonight," said Rory. Not really answering the question.

"Oh, with who?"

"Devon," Rory said with a certain amount of contempt in her voice.

"What's he like?" asked Jess, sitting down on the couch by her feet.

"Dally Winston," answered Rory without missing a beat as though she had been deliberating this.

"Who?"

"Character from _The Outsiders_."

"I'm not up on the who's who in _The Outsiders_, but the mere fact that that is character in that book is probably not a good sign."

"I know."

"Care to give me further description…?"  
Rory turned over on the couch and buried her face in her arms and then lifted her head to exclaim with anguish, "He's a Jess."

"No," said Jess is utter disbelief on several levels. One, because he couldn't belief that stupid conversation and its analogies were coming back to haunt him and, two, he would never imagine his daughter ending up with someone like that.

Rory nodded in tortured way. "He's got the hair," said Rory, placing her pointer fingers by the side of her head to demonstrate. "And the jacket and the whole monosyllable thing going on and…and…,"

"And?" asked Jess, prodding her on.

"And he wouldn't talk to me or around me. He just looked at me with this utter disdain because I was an adult or a parent or an authority figure or something," concluded Rory sitting up on the couch.

"Ror, it will be okay," comforted Jess, "I'll threaten him when the come back at the end of the date."

Rory looked at him and raised her eyebrows in question, "Were you easily intimidated?"  
"No, but I think I am a lot scarier than your mom…"  
"Obviously then you've never seen her when she has just woken up in the morning," said Rory with smiled.

Jess snorted.

It was just a simple and crazy conversation, but it was indescribably nice. After their fight and the way they had shunned each other the last few days it was nice to be able to talk again, to laugh together, and to just be together…

* * *

Next chapter- Amber comes home from her date…late 


	10. Chapter 10

**Aki- **Okay, the whole issue of Rory leaving is brought up again in this chapter. Please, give Rory a break, give Amber a break (She's a teenager, she has hormones), and give me the benefit of the doubt. Oh, you will learn why Amber and Brendan broke up later in the story, trust me.

* * *

**Destroyed**

Jess sat uneasily on the couch as he watched his wife pace back and forth across the living room floor glancing at the wall clock every few seconds.

"Where is she?" Rory said anxious, talking to herself more than her husband.

"She'll be here," said Jess, trying to calm Rory down, though worried himself.

"But its past her curfew and she didn't pick up her cell phone when I called… She could be hurt."

"Rory," said Jess, standing up and taking Rory's shoulders in either hand to pause her, "You need to stop worrying. You wearing a hole in the floor isn't going to help any."

"This _isn't_ an appropriate time for jokes," growled Rory.

"Well you know me," shrugged Jess, "I'm not good at knowing when the appropriate time for anything is…"

Rory glared at him.

Jess backed off. "Okay, pace," and then he made to sit down, but neither got to pace nor sit down because it was at that moment the door opened a crack letting in the sound of laughing and goodbyes, before Amber fully entered, smiling.

The smile disappeared when she saw her two parents, looking none too happy, standing their waiting for her.

"Do you know what time it is," asked Rory tersely, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Eleven-something…," answered Amber unsure.

"Eleven fifteen," snapped Rory in correction.

"So I'm a little late," Amber tried to rationalize.

"Forty-five minutes late is not a little late," replied Rory, trying to calm down.

"I'm sorry, but this is the first time I've been late," said Amber in a not too sorry way.

"Sorry that you are late or sorry that you are getting scolded for it."

Amber looked at her mother with some skepticism wondering when she had gotten so mom-ish. Neither Rory nor Lorelai were conventional parents. Jess remained silent.

"Whatever that means," said Amber almost stupidly.

"Look," said Rory, trying the rational approach, steeping forward and putting a hand on Amber's shoulder. "This isn't like you. Staying out late without calling. Breaking the rules…I just want you to be safe and I don't feel like this guy is safe. I don't like him," finished Rory genuinely.

Amber gave Rory a look, "Well, if I remember correctly, your mom didn't like Dad in the beginning either."

"That was differ-,"

"No, it's not different," snapped Amber. "You are just judging him and you don't even know him."

"I care about you, Amber. I want you to be safe. He doesn't seem like your type," said Rory in a tone practically pleading for Amber to understand her reasoning.

"My type! How would you know what my _type_ is," said Amber angrily, stepping away from her mother's touch, "How much did you care about me the first nine years of my life?"

Amber took another step back towards the hallway, but not able to take her eyes off of Rory's expression. She hadn't really meant it, or at least meant it to sound so harsh. Her temper had been on the edge lately.

The look on her mother's face scared Amber. It was almost blank. Her color had suddenly disappeared. She wasn't staring at Amber, but more through her. Amber left and rushed into her room.

Rory stood there in the same place even after Amber left. The hand that had rested on Amber's shoulder hung limply by her side.

"Rory," whispered Jess, standing next to her.

But Rory didn't respond to him, but put her hands to her forehead then pulled then back to her back to her head. "I just need to get a shower," she said weakly.

Jess waited her as she walked off to their bedroom's personal bath. Never had she looked so destroyed before.

Next chapter- Jess talks to Amber


	11. Chapter 11

**Lies**

Jess knocked softly on his daughter's bedroom door as he checked the doorknob, locked.

"Yes," answered a muffled voice.

"Amber, open the door." It wasn't a mean, gruff command. It was a simple request.

"Are you going to yell at me for being mean to Mom?" she asked, her voice clearer as though she was standing directly on the other side of the door.

"No."

Jess heard the locked click and the door opened a crack to reveal Amber, eyes red and puffy.

"I didn't know you were the one that got insulted," said Jess with a sad half-grin.

"Did you see her face?" asked Amber with a bit of horror, ignoring her father's ill-placed jest.

Jess lost the grin and nodded morosely.

Amber sniffed and looked her father in the eye, "I don't know why I said it. It just slipped out. I can't explain it…"

"Hey, I of all people know what it is like to say stupid things with out thinking."

Amber let out an airy, half-hearted chuckle.

"Can you tell her I'm sorry?" asked Amber desperately.

Jess put his hands up defensively. "I can't do anything for you, Am. This is between you and your mom; you have to work it out with her. Apologies and why you are mad at her."

"I'm not mad at her!" insisted Amber in a quick and surprised retort.

"Amber," said Jess with a look that told her he knew what he was talking about and she didn't. "You attacked Rory for leaving us," explained Jess then added speedily when Amber opened her mouth to say something. "Though with out thinking about it or planning it. Subconsciously, you wanted to hurt her because you were angry with her. Whether it was because she left you when you were born or something else I don't know, but it is not my fight."

"Can't you tell her sort of preemptively?" asked Amber with a last bit of desperation.

"It won't mean anything coming from me…night." And with that, Jess left his daughter standing their in her own thoughts.

Rory wasn't out of the shower yet when Jess entered their bedroom so he got dressed and got in bed. She came in a few minutes later, in baggy pj's, hair damp and laid down in bed next to her husband, back to him as though she could dare not look him in the eye.

"You know she is sorry, right?" whispered Jess after a few moments of silence.

"It doesn't stop the hurt," she replied hoarsely. Jess strongly suspected Rory had cried in the shower.

…

The next morning Amber entered the kitchen to find her mother sitting their alone with a coffee cup in one hand a newspaper in the other just a little too silently.

"Breakfast?" asked Rory sounding like she had a sore throat.

"I'll get it," Amber replied wearily.

Rory's nod was her only reply. She wasn't intentionally snubbing or ignoring her daughter out of contempt or scorn.

"I gotta get to school," commented Amber a few moments later, getting up from the table.

Rory nodded again. Amber paused in the kitchen doorway, turned round suddenly, and opened her mouth to say she was sorry, she hadn't meant anything by it, that she wasn't still mad at her for leaving, but she remained silent. Rory hadn't notice Amber and was still reading her paper. Amber shut her mouth and proceeded out the front door.

It seemed to her that the more she thought about telling her mother such things about not being angry with her, the more she realized it would be a lie.

* * *

Next chapter- Entitled "Daughters and Mothers and Grandmothers slash Great Aunts" …it just slides of the tongue doesn't it? 


	12. Chapter 12

**Daughters and Mothers and Grandmothers slash Great Aunts **

Another tense week and a half passed. Rory and Amber were barely on speaking terms, not because they were mad at each other, but because neither knew what to say. In fact there was barely any speaking in the household, all busying themselves with work or school as a way to avoid the awkwardness. Sometimes late at night Jess would comfort Rory as she lay in bed silently, when there was nothing else for her to think about. The couples' fight and seemed to be temporarily forgotten in the heat of these other problems.

But when life gets too much Rory always knew where to turn.

"Mom," said Rory in almost a whisper over the phone.

"Rory, what's wrong?" asked Lorelai worriedly, easily detecting something was wrong by her daughter's voice.

"…Amber and me are still not talking."

"Oh…is it that bad."

"Both of us want to say something…I can tell she wants to, but it's like neither of us know what to say."

"You two have to talk eventually, putting it off won't help."

"I know," said Rory exasperatedly. "It's just…"

"Just?"

"Just that I've never been in such big of a mother-daughter fight on the mother side before…and it's a little scary."

"I understand you completely, Rory," said Lorelai confidently, yet still in a comforting way, "But, unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to make this better. Both you and Amber are afraid to say anything else, but sometimes it's your responsibility as mom to make the first contact, to talk even if Amber doesn't like what she has to hear."

"I know, it's just…"

"Scary?"

"Yeah."

…

"Um, Mom."

Rory looked up, it was after school and Amber was standing in the doorway, pulling at the hem of her shirt nervously.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to go out tonight, if that's okay with you," asked Amber timidly.

After a moments consideration Rory asked, "With Devon?"

"Yes," replied Amber, tensing slightly.

Rory sighed inwardly, "Amber, I know you don't want to hear it, but I'm your mother and I care about you. Maybe I don't know Devon enough to judge, but I just have a really bad feeling about him. I don't trust him and I don't feel that you are safe with him-,"

"Mom," interrupted Amber, but Rory put up her hand to cut her off.

"I'm not forbidding you from going out; just think about it first, please. It's a mother's intuition, you'll understand one day. Be careful, I don't think he is a good guy."

Amber looked her mother in the eye for a moment, something they hadn't done since their big fight. "I hear you, Mom," she said with almost fake confidence, "But you're wrong."

…

Rory was watching the clock on the wall as the second hand slowly ticked around. Amber was cutting it close to her curfew again.

Five minutes.

Four minutes.

Three minutes.

Two minutes.

One minute.

The second hand ticked past the six, leaving only a half of a minute. It was though Rory was suspecting Amber to burst through the door at the last second, out of breath or something.

"She's late," Rory announced out loud for the benefit for her husband who was trying to ignore her strange clock watching habits.

"Give her five minutes," replied Jess, not even looking up from his book.

"Whatever," Rory muttered to herself.

Five minutes came and past, but Amber didn't show.

…

_Knock, knock, knock._

Lorelai shuffled agitatedly to the front door, swearing to destroy whoever it was. But when she opened it, she was surprised to find-

"Amber?" asked Lorelai, shocked. She looked a little worse for the wear. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes were slightly damp from the drizzle of rain that had began not long ago. She was holding her jacket closed tight and was carrying her high healed shoes in her hands. "What's wrong?"

Amber sniffed and then said in a wavering voice, "Can I stay here tonight?"

Lorelai stared at her granddaughter, something was wrong. "Sure, what are favorite grandmothers slash great aunts for."

Amber left out a watery, half-hearted chuckle.

"Come on," said Lorelai, wrapping her arm over Amber's shoulders and leading her to the kitchen. "I'll make Luke make us some hot chocolate."

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Next chapter- What's up with Amber 


	13. Chapter 13

**Aki- **Okay guys this is the last chapter I update for a while because I'm going on a trip (to England, cool!). Hope you like it.

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**Runaways**

"What happened?" asked Luke in an urgent whisper to Lorelai as they stood just outside the kitchen where Amber sat.

"I don't know. I haven't had time to ask," replied Lorelai.

"Well ask!"

Lorelai glared at Luke. "I will, I'm just giving her time to calm down a bit first…you wouldn't understand. Go away, it's girl talk time."

Luke put up his hands defensively, "Okay, going."

"Hey, how you doing?" asked Lorelai as she entered the kitchen.

Amber shrugged taking a sip of hot chocolate from her mug before setting it back down on the table.

"Amber," said Lorelai, sitting down next to her granddaughter and stroked her hair. "Are you okay? ... Well, of course you're not okay, you showed up at my doorstep, rained on, disheveled, and practically in tears," rambled Lorelai, getting Amber to smile a little smile, before the grandmother became earnest, "What happened? Why are you here instead of at home?"

Amber sighed a shaky sigh before answering slowly and sadly. "I just," she paused to shake her head upsettedly, "Couldn't face 'I told you so's' right now."

Lorelai nodded, though she did not fully understand.

"Rory told me about the fight."

"Oh," said Amber. In disappointment. In shame.

"So is that why you are here. Your fight with Rory."

"No," answered Amber.

Lorelai gave her a look.

Amber sighed, "Partially."

"And partially…what else? Asked Lorelai.

Amber sighed again, though this time, angrily. "Devon."

"The new boyfriend guy?" questioned Lorelai curiously.

"The ex-boyfriend guy," Amber corrected with venom in her tone.

"Oh," said Lorelai in comprehension. "What happened."

Amber's jaw tightened. "He made a move…He made lots of moves."

Lorelai's eyebrows raised, but she said nothing.

Amber wrapped her arms across her chest and continued with a little less spunk, "It took him a while to figure out that I didn't want to sleep with in his car, or anywhere."

"That jerk," Lorelai said with spite.

Amber closed her eyes and nodded, her spirit leaving her. "I knew," she said just above a whisper, "I knew. He acted all charming at first. I saw right through him. I've always been good at judging people, yet despite it…"

"Then why did you date him?" asked Lorelai, but not as an accusation. "To make your mom mad?"

"No," answered Amber simply, with a slight shake of her head, "Brendan."

"Ah."

"He got so angry when Devon showed up at school, when he saw us together, when I talked about Devon in front of him. I talked Devon up…to mom, to my friends, especially when Brendan was around. But we never even had that much fun, our dates were mediocre at best." Amber paused to shake her head, "Pathetic, aren't I?"

"No," protested Lorelai, "Not at all." Amber gave her a look. "Okay, a little," Lorelai conceded. "But girls are allowed to get all pathetic over guys once in a while, It's a rite of passage. Rory has. God knows I have… um, by the way, does Rory know you are here?"

"Um, no," answered Amber shyly.

"I have got to call her," declared Lorelai, standing up from the table.

"No!" Amber said in protest. "She'll be mad at me."

"She and your father are probably worried sick about you. I know I was when Rory ran away."

"Mom ran away?" asked Amber in amazed curiosity.

"Story for after I call your mother."

Amber huffed, "Fine."

Walking into the living room, Lorelai picked up the portable phone a dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?" answered Rory's urgent voice.

"Hey, Ror, it's me."

"Oh, Mom. I was hoping it was Amber, she's-,"

"She's here," interrupted Lorelai.

"What?"

"Amber's here, at my house. She's fine."

"I'll come pick her up," Rory said swiftly.

"No," said Lorelai calmly.

"What?"

"No. Amber is really shaken up right know and needs to cool down. That's why she came here."

"But Mom-," Rory tried to reason.

"Remember what it was like when you ran away?" Lorelai reminded her daughter.

"But I ran away to Grandma's," Rory retorted.

"And Amber ran away to her grandmother's."

Lorelai could almost sense Rory struggling with herself on the other side of the line.

Finally she conceded and said with a sigh, "Slash great aunt's."

Lorelai smiled, "Slash great aunt's."

* * *

Next chapter- Rory and Amber (with a pinch of Lorelai)

Some things to look forward to- Why Amber and Brendan originally broke up. Amber and Rory working out their problems. Why Rory reacted so violently over her and Jess's fights and disagreements. Another episode with the grandparents and the title (A walk in the park) is tied in.


	14. Chapter 14

**Aki- **I'm back! I proofread this before my trip, but I'm too lazy to proofread it now again, so sorry for any mistakes.

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**More mothers and daughters and best friends **

Even though Rory knew her daughter was safe at her mother's she couldn't more want to drive there in the middle of the night to get her. She tried to too, but Jess stopped her…twice.

She didn't know why, but Rory was just filled with overwhelming need to see Amber. Not to yell at her or punish her, but to just see with her own eyes to know she was alright. To give her a hug and just talk to her like they hadn't done in a long time. She managed, barely, to make it through the night.

Rory knocked on the door to her mother's house early the next morning before unlocking the door herself and entering to find her tired mother half-way down the stairs in her pajamas.

"Rory, what are you doing here?" Lorelai asked, slowly making her way down the rest of the staircase.

"Where's Amber?" asked Rory without answering he mother.

"Probably asleep," retorted Lorelai, "Like any decant person should he at this time in the morning."

"In her room then," said Rory, starting up the stairs.

"Rory! Wait!" Lorelai called, chasing after her daughter finally catching her by the sleeve outside the room Amber slept in during her visits to Stars Hollow.

"Mom! I need to talk to her."

"No, you need to calm down. Amber is probably still asleep, well not now that we are yelling outside her door, but most definitely still upset. She doesn't need you to scold her right now."

"I'm not here to yell at her!" Rory protested.

"Then why are you here?" Lorelai asked more calmly.

Rory inhaled an uneasy deep breath to still herself before answering her mother. "Because… something went really wrong last night with Amber and I don't even know what. And she came here! She didn't come home…," said Rory upset and almost in tears. "Because of me. She didn't come home because of me. Because she can't talk to me! Our fight or whatever it is has gone too far when she has to runaway to deal with her problems and can't even face talking with her mother."

Lorelai looked at her daughter in a new sort of respect, a different understanding. They had bonded as best friends. They had bonded as mother and daughter. But for the first time they saw eye to eye as one mother to another.

"I know exactly how you feel," Lorelai whispered before nodding towards the door. "Go talk to your daughter."

Rory looked back at her mother and nodded, knowing to that their relationship had suddenly changed.

Rory opened the bedroom door to reveal Amber sitting on her bed, looking straight at her.

"Did you hear all that?" Rory asked with a faint grin, softly shutting the door behind her.

Amber shrugged her shoulders noncommittally, "Bits and pieces."

Rory sat down next to her daughter and sighed. "Amber, I'm not mad at you. I'm not mad at you for not coming home last night. I'm not mad at you for going out with Devon again. I'm not mad at you for coming home late. I'm not even mad at you for what you said-,"

"Mom-,"

But Rory cut her daughter off, "I'm just upset that you couldn't talk to me about your problems, when you're hurt. We need to talk kid, even when we're fighting. Remember, we're best friends first, mother and daughter second."

"Mom, we're not Lorelai and Rory. We're Rory and Amber." Amber looked down at her lap to avoid her mother's gaze and as to will herself to continue, daring herself to say what she was thinking.

She looked back up at her mother, looking about ready to cry. "That's the problem. We are friends always. We're mother and daughter…never."

"Th- That's not true," stuttered Rory, surprised by Amber's comment.

"Yes, it is," said Amber avidly. "I might have found you seven years ago, but I'm still waiting for you to be my mother." Rory stared at Amber in a new sort of way, like she had never seen her before.

Amber continued in almost sobbing words though she blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. "I need you to be my mother when I come home late. You need to my mother when I get mad at you. You need to be my mother when I say hurtful things and break the rules and make mistakes. You need to be her when things go bad at school and with friends and boyfriend… Because I already have friends to comfort be how friends should, but what I need most is a mom to comfort me how moms do,"

Amber paused and looked Rory in the eye, now both were close to tears, "And, maybe most importantly you need to be, I want you to be, my mom in the good times too."

Rory looked at her daughter and knew she was right. She knew that her late appearance in Amber's life made her act like a friend rather than a mother. Rory thought about Lorelai and their relationship and the friendship they shared. For a long time Rory deceived herself into thinking that it was them being best friends that held them together for so long, but she was wrong. Too many times had she forgotten the possibly even more important part, the mother part. Amber needed a mother so much, especially as a teenage girl growing up in a scary world.

Rory suddenly embraced her daughter, "I'm so sorry, Amber."

Amber buried her face on her mother's shoulder and cried. "You don't have to be, Mom. It's not your fault. It's not. I never asked you…"

Rory sniffed, holding her children tight. "You shouldn't have had to.

"I'm the one who should be sorry," sobbed Amber, "For saying those things…I love you so much, Mom."

Rory let out a laughing sob, "You too, kid. You have no idea…"


	15. Chapter 15

**Aki-** Another. Thanks for the support. I love you reader, but I love you reviewsers more. Finally, the reason Amber and Brendan broke up...

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**I think I did**

"I was just so upset that night. It was Devon. It was Brendan. It was…hormones. Then you were acting so much like a mother, and Dad was just standing there…and I exploded."

"I know what it like is to have everything pile up until you are at the breaking point. Hell, I didn't talk to Mom for almost six months after that happened to me."

"When didn't you talk to Grandma for six months?"

"A long story for another time."

Amber put her head down on Lorelai's kitchen table and grunted. "Why is it so hard?"

Rory patted her on the shoulder, "Its life kid, it's not supposed to be easy." A silence filled the room, yet it was one quit unlike the ones the mother and daughter had recently shared. The ones filled with confusion, pain and doubt. This silence was one of comfort and love and warmth.

Rory was hesitant to bring up the question on her mind. Not just after her and her daughter's relationship had just been remedied. But he had to know and Amber had to release whatever it was that was hurting her.

"Why did you breakup with Brendan?" she asked slowly.

Amber lifter her head off of her arms and looked at her mother, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Amber," Rory persisted, "You have to talk about it. You can't keep it a secret anymore. That just makes everything worse. Makes it harder."

Amber sighed and slumped back in her chair, knowing her mother was right. "We broke up because I was stupid."

"I didn't want to obvious reason," teased Rory.

Amber glared at her mother.

"Okay, the real reason. I'll stop joking," said Rory, putting up her hands defensively.

"Thank you," replied Amber smartly.

Rory indicated for her daughter to go on with her story.

"Remember the Saturday before me and Brendan broke up, we had that big date."

"Oh, yeah. We went shopping for it!"

Amber continued her story, ignoring her mother's strange outburst. "I don't know what I was doing or thinking or feeling. I hadn't planned it,….but it just came out."

"What came out?" asked Rory.

Amber hid her face been her hands for a moment before opening them to look at her mother and saying in nostalgic wonder and disbelief, "I told him I loved him."

Rory eyebrows went up in surprise. "Wow." She hadn't been expecting that.

"Yeah, that was basically his reaction," added Amber, putting her hands down.

"And what did he say?" Rory asked in wonder.

Amber paused before answering, "Well, of course I freaked because I hadn't planned on saying it and so I told Brendan that he didn't have to saying anything back…"  
"And he didn't," guessed Rory.

Amber nodded. "The next week was so tense. Every word, every moment, every stare was awkward and weird. I could tell he thinking it over…everything….us. And every second Brendan didn't say he loved me back, I doubted what I said, until," Amber trailed off.

"Until," prodded Rory.

Amber sighed. "Until Friday when I did an even more stupid thing and took it back."

"You didn't?" asked Rory in disbelief.

"I did," admitted Amber somberly. "Then he got upset and I got upset because he was upset and we fought." Amber sighed hand buried her face in her arms on the table before concluding, "And here we are."

Rory stroked her daughter's hair comfortingly in a silent moment.

"Did you really love him?" asked Rory quietly and sadly.

Amber lifted her head to view her mother, eyes watery and red. She sniffed and replied weakly, "I think I really did..."

Next chapter- re-enter Jess


	16. Chapter 16

**Big news and such**

Jess walked grudgingly up the steps of his mother-in-law's front porch yawning. He had awoken up alone at home. No daughter, no wife, and only hints to there whereabouts.

He opened the door unceremoniously without knocking, no need with Lorelai's undyingly persistent habit of never locking up. He slammed the door behind him, it was ignored.

Jess made his way slowly to the kitchen, where he had heard voices, to find Lorelai, Rory and Amber, laughing over the remains of breakfast. Wait, laughing, Rory _and _Amber, together…how did this happen?

"Hi, Jess," greeted Rory sweetly, spotting him. Amber and Lorelai followed with their welcoming.

"It's Saturday morning," stated Jess grumpily. "I should be asleep right now, not chasing you cross state."

Rory just shrugged innocently, "Sorry." Jess grunted tiredly in response and went into Rory's room, presumably to lie down.

"I should go talk to him," said Rory, standing up from the table.

"Don't do anything dirty," commented Lorelai, "Or if you do, don't do it to loud."

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed indignantly. Lorelai winked at her. Amber giggled.

Rory shook her head at the two and entered her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

"Are you okay?" Rory asked Jess who was lying on her bed.

He propped himself on his elbows, ignored her question. "How did that happen," he asked nodded towards the kitchen, "You and Amber."

Rory smiled shrewdly, "It's a mother-daughter thing."

"Do you care to explain?"

"Nope," grinned Rory, sitting down next to him.

Jess leaned over and kissed her.  
"What was that for?" asked Rory confused.

Jess smiled, "I hadn't seen you smile like that in a while."

"Ah," said Rory as Jess wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed to herself.

"Jess?"

"Huh?"

"I've been thinking about something…"

"Yes?" implored Jess.

"I'm sorry…for overreacting that night. When I told you I wanted to have another baby. You had every right to be surprised and speechless-"

"Forget about it."

"What?" asked Rory surprised.

"It's okay. Although I don't really understand what caused you to act that way, I should have handled it better to."

"Jess-"

"And I've been thinking," continued Jess slightly hesitantly. "And if you still want to, I think that having another baby isn't such a bad idea."

Rory looked at him, "Well, I'm glad you agree."

"Have I just made your day?"

Rory shrugged teasingly, laying down next to him. Then she suddenly sat up and looked down at him.

"The reason I was so upset-"

"Rory, I told you. You don't have to explain."

Rory put up her hand to stop him. "Yes. I do." She took a deep before continuing, "The reason I was so upset that night was, well hormones of course." Jess looked at her confused. "And that I thought that your silence meant that you didn't want to have another child, and that scared me."

"Why was that so scary?" asked Jess.

Rory closed her eyes for a moment before answering. She looked intently at Jess and answered slowly, "Because I was already pregnant."

Jess stared at her, "Wha–what? How did this happen?"

"Well you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much…" Rory smirked

Jess glared at her playfully. "But- but you've been drinking coffee."

She shook her head no, "I switched us to decaf."

"I knew it tasted different."

"Jess?"

"Huh?"

"You're happy about this, right?" asked Rory, for the first time this conversation showing weakness and vulnerability.

Jess placed his hand on her stomach, then looked deeply into her eyes. "Yes, surprised, but happy. Very happy."

"I love you, Jess," whispered Rory.

"I love you too," replied Jess, putting his other hand behind her head, drawling her in for a kiss. It was deep, loving, passionate…perfect.

Rory pulled lightly back and smiled, "I'm _already_ pregnant."

Jess laughed. "So should we tell the other members of the family the big news?"

"Sure."

The two exited the room hand in hand. Amber sat alone at the table in the kitchen.

"Where's Lorelai?" asked Jess.

"Bathroom," answered Amber.

Jess looked down at his wife standing next to him, "Should we tell her first?"

"Of course, she is our daughter."

"Tell me what?" asked Amber keenly.

"Amber," started Jess in a dead serious tone, "Your mother's knocked up."

"Hey!" Rory said indignantly, narrowing her eyes at her husband.

Instead of reacting with disbelief, surprise, stuttering, screams, giggles, or even tears, Amber looked at her father and said in an almost matching serious tone he had used just seconds previous, "Is it yours?"

"Hey," exclaimed Rory indignantly for the third time that morning.

Jess smirked. "You truly are my child," he commented sitting down next to his daughter.

"Unfortunately," added Rory, sitting down on Amber's opposite side.

"What's happening?" asked Lorelai, as he entered minutes later, seeing happy expressions on the three's faces.

"Mom," began Rory, "What would you think if Jess and me wanted to have another baby?"

Lorelai clapped her hands together in front of her, "That means another grandkid to spoil."

"Mom?"

"Yes, Rory."

"Jess and me are having another baby."

Lorelei looked at Rory for a moment, as though processing what she just said and what it meant. Then Lorelai pointed at Jess, "Is it his?"

"MOM!"

next chapter- re-enter the grandparents


	17. Chapter 17

**Aki-** Hey, last chapter with the "Who's the father?" jokes, I was just trying to be humorous, some of you reviewers took it as Rory-bashing, and you enjoyed it! Well, any readers who are irritated with Rory in this story or its prequel will probably enjoy this chapter, where she really comes into stride. If you're mad at the Rory in the actual show, then I can't help, but to suggest that you buy the DVD's and only watch seasons one, two, and three where Rory is still cool and Jess is there a lot.

Anyway, I didn't originally plan to have a second chapter in this story with the grandparents, but after 'Dinner and Disaster' and a review from _Bru_ about it, this just popped into my mind and I thought it would be appropriate especially since their was no real grandparents scene in 'Christmas Miracles.' Wow, long author notes. Few of you probably actually read this.

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**Dinner and Disaster Again**

"Stop!"

"Why?"

"I think I left the oven on."

"Jess, we rarely ever cook at home, how on earth could the oven be on?"

"I was bored?" answered Jess hopefully, Rory glared at him from behind the steering wheel. Rory was always he one to drive on the way to the grandparents because Rory believed that if Jess drove, he would drive into a tree just to get out of going.

Again Lorelai let it slip to her grandparents over the phone that Rory, Jess and Amber were in town (Rory was staring to suspect she did it on purpose to get some sort of sadistic pleasure). Although this time the plan backfired and Lorelei and Luke were shanghaied into diner too.

Not long later they pulled into the Gilmore mansion driveway, shortly followed by Lorelai and Luke in another car.

"Why did I have to come?" whined Lorelai dramatically as she got out of the car.

"Mom," protested Rory.

Luke looked at Rory then his wife before adding, "Why did I have to come?"

"Luke!"

Jess glared at the two complainers and then grumbled to himself, "Why did _I_ have to come."

Rory gave Jess a sharp look before addressing the whole. "Come on guys, I need your support," she said placing her hand on her stomach, "Tonight is the night I'm telling Grandma and Grandpa about the pregnancy."

Jess's scowl deepened. "Do we have to?"

Rory put her hands on her hips. "What's your plan? Avoid seeing or talking them for nine months, and then suddenly show up at their door with a baby in your arms and say, 'Hey, here is your new great-grandkid we didn't tell you about because I was too afraid!'"

Jess shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

Rory pouted and said sadly, "Come on Jess. I can't do this alone. I need you help. It is your baby."

"Ha! The truth comes out!" Lorelai joked loudly.

Rory turned to her mother and pleaded desperately, "And please, Mom, for the love of all things unhealthy, sugary, and greasy in this world please don't make 'whose the father,' jokes in front of the grandparents…that goes for all of you." Rory added, looking pointedly at Amber, who smiled innocently.

"Rory, Amber," greeted Emily enthusiastically as they all entered the living room for drinks. "Lorelai," she added with slightly less enthusiasm, followed by an even less enthusiastic, "Luke." Last but not least an almost flat toned, "Jess."

Chorused back were a mix of 'Hello, Mom's' 'Hi, Emily's' and 'Nice to see you Grandma.'

"Well, sit down everybody let me get you some drinks," said Emily, walking over to the drink cart, but before stopping to yell up he steps, "Richard, they're here!"

Emily prepared all her guests drinks, with an odd glance at Rory when she asked for soda instead of her usual.

"Hello everyone," said Richard, finally making his entrance. He fixed himself a drink before sitting down in his usual armchair.

"Lorelai, Luke. Business going well I hope?" asked Richard politely and the next few minutes were filled with pleasant small talk about the Inn and the diner.

"Rory, Amber, Jess. Anything new with you three?" asked Emily a few minutes later.

"Actually," began Rory, finding Jess's hand and holding it in her own, "Jess and I have something we want to tell you."

Emily nodded for her granddaughter to continue with polite interest.

"We have decided…Well, we are, um…"

"Yes, Rory?" implored Richard, taking a sip of his scotch.

"We're pregnant," Rory blurted out. Jess thought he might be lucky enough to live his whole life without seeing a spit take than other in a movie or television show, but he was sorely disappointed by Richard's reaction.

"What!" squealed Emily, standing up suddenly.

"Mom, please calm down," Lorelei said from he couch in a lame attempt to quell her mother's violent reaction.

"How could this happen?" Emily exclaimed, pacing.

"Grandma, please. We're adults. We're married," protested Rory.

"Babies are expensive, but only one of you has a solid, regular income and you, Rory, will most likely take time off."

"My office has paid maternity leave," explained Rory, standing up.

"But the maternity leave they offer now days is not _nearly_ long enough…and what if you want to make you're absence more permanent."

"Grandma," said Rory, putting her hand to her grandmother's arm, stopping her pacing, and to hopefully calm her, "We have things under control. We know how to handle ourselves. We have money saved up and we can scrimp if necessary. And if worse really does come to worse, there is you and Grandpa, and Mom, and Luke, and Dad, who would all be willing to help us."

"But are you sure you are ready?" asked Emily, looking intently back at Rory.

"Of course we are."

"_Both_ of you?" reiterated Emily, raising her eyebrows in silent communication and Rory understood instantly what she meant.

"Is that a lack of faith in _us_ or just in Jess?" asked Rory, almost silently.

"Rory-,"

"Because I wouldn't have married a loser," Rory continued louder. Everyone was staring silently at the scene before them, sometimes occasionally glancing at Jess to see how he was reacting, but he didn't even notice. His eyes were glued on Rory, her face, stern. Her eyes, shimmering just a bit more than usual from either unshed tears or passion or both. Her voice was unyielding, yet just slightly shaking from forced calm. If things were heading as Jess thought they were heading, this would be the first time that Rory had stood up for him to Emily. She had stood up for him with Lorelai and Luke and basically anyone else who thought that they maybe didn't belong together, but never Emily.

"Jess's is going to be a wonderful father," said Rory with determination before glancing back at her husband, for just a second their eyes connecting, before she turned back to Emily and said a little meeker, "He already is."

Emily was silent. (For maybe the first time she really didn't know what to say.)

Rory continued, "I can't just stand aside anymore as you bash him, and that is what you are doing, I'm not being paranoid. Mom can attest to this, but anyway. If you should be worried about anyone being a parent it should be me." No one said anything as Rory paused. They all knew where this was going.

Rory closed her eyes for a moment, as though holding back threatening tears. "I'm the one that screwed up. I'm the one that left. I'm the one who is totally unprepared for this," Rory said, voice cracking. "This girl," continued Rory, motioning toward Amber with one of her hands, "That you love, and spoil, and gush over because she is cute and sweet and polite and funny and smart, but not because of anything I did. Jess raised her like that in the first nine years of her life. Some of those years on a barely nothing income." Jess would have protested this comment if the moment hadn't been so serious.

"Him, not me." Rory concluded then took an unsure deep breath, eyes glistening even more. "Excuse me," she said, putting her hands on her face, rushing out of the room.

"Rory," Jess called after her, before jumping off the couch and chasing after her.

"Mom, we need to talk," said Lorelai, practically dragging her mother out of the room leaving behind Richard, Luke, and Amber, all uncomfortable and silent.

Jess found Rory outside on the back patio where she had once found him not too many weeks ago.

"Hey," said Jess as he approached her, "Whatcha thinking?"

She was silent a second before answering. "How we are going to explain to this one," Rory stated, putting her hand on her stomach, "Why they never meet their great-grandparents."

Jess wrinkled his brow, confused and unsure where Rory was going with that. "Because you…killed them?"

Rory gave him a look that clearly said she didn't appreciate his humor at the moment. "Because they disowned me."

"They wouldn't do that."

"Wanna bet?"

"They adore you…"

"Not after _that_."

"…which is, consequently, why they despise me."

Rory turned to Jess and sighed, "So what did you think of my little freak out in there."

Jess absentmindedly tucked a strand of hair behind Rory's ear before replying in earnest, "I think it made me fall in love with you all over again."

The slightest grin appeared on Rory lips, "You sure know what to say to make a girl feel good."

Jess shrugged, "It's a gift." Jess put an arm around his wife's shoulders, "You know we have to go back in, don't you."

"Do we really?"

"They're your grandparents."

"Oh, so now there _my_ grandparents," Rory joked.

"Hey, you owe me favor. Last time we were on this very patio, you agreed that you owed me one and I'm calling you out."

Rory looked at him a moment before conceding, "Fine…but this isn't the way I thought you would spend your favor on."

"Dirty," teased Jess, leading her back towards the house.

After entering they were stopped mid-hallway by Emily and Lorelai.

"Jess, Rory," said Lorelei, "Your grandmother has something she would like to say to you. Mom?"

"Jess, Rory. I have something that I would like to say to you," said Emily in a way that was neither forced nor rehearsed (note the sarcasm). "I apologize for the way I reacted to your news. It was uncalled for. I was wr-…"

Lorelai nudged her mother lightly with her elbow.

"Lorelai, I can very well do this on my own without you monitoring me as if I were a little child."

"Fine," said Lorelai, exiting the hallway, yet obviously standing just around the corner, listening in.

Emily cleared her throat, "I was… I was wr-,"

"Wrong," Jess supplied in a polite voice, hiding his smirk.

"Yes," agreed Emily, with difficulty though when she continued she was more relaxed, more natural, more sincere. "I was wrong about Luke, so I suppose I was wrong about you too, Jess. You're not the man I would have chosen for my granddaughter, but she chose you and that has to mean something. And I need to commend you on how well you raised your daughter. From now on I will try to treat you with more respect. Now, if you please, let's all go to dinner and celebrate the future addition to our family…Lorelai you can stop hiding now."

Emily left the three behind, two of which taken back and surprised.

"Wow," whispered Rory.

"Yeah, I know," Lorelai deadpanned, "I didn't tell her to say half those things."

"She admitted she was wrong," continued a flabbergasted (that's a fun word) Rory.

"I'm starving, let's hope Emily isn't serving some disgusting European dish," commented Lorelai before going off to the dinning room. Rory and Jess, on the other hand, walked there slowly.

"So, are we good now?"

"Hmm?"

"Me and Emily. She said she was going to try and respect me from now on."

"Keyword, try."

"Meaning…?"

"She's just going to be a lot more subtle from now on." Jess frowned, but Rory just gave him a little shrug and a smile.

Wow, so this is what it was like typing chapter for "Christmas Miracles" Long chap…


	18. Chapter 18

**Aki- **Alas, this story is coming to an end and it saddens me. I will miss the world of 'Christmas Miracles' and 'A Walk in the Park' though I preferred the former more. I'll miss Amber the most because their will be no more fanfics with her, sad. I think I liked her nine year old self a bit better than her sixteen year old self. She was harder to right as a teenager.

**Of Boyfriends and Breakups again and again and again**

"Home," sighed Amber, collapsing on the couch as they arrived home Sunday around noon.

"I'll order us some lunch," said Rory, walking towards the phone.

"No, you are going to sit down, pregnant lady, and I'll order lunch," retorted Jess.

"Ah, special treatment," said Rory, sitting down next to her daughter. "I am _so_ going to milk this for all its worth for the next eight and a half months."

"I'm sure you will!" called Jess from the other room, surprising Rory a little bit that he had heard her.

Not a few seconds later the doorbell rang.

"Wow, Jess, these guys are fast."

"I'm not done ordering yet!"

"Well, What's taking you so long!"

The door bell rang again, followed by a persistent knocking.

"I guess I'll get it," said Amber stingily as she reluctantly got up from the couch and made her way to the door.

Rory picked up a magazine from the coffee table and began flipping through it, but she dropped it the moment she heard Amber gasp loudly.

"Are you okay?" she called, sitting up straighter to see what was happening at the door. Amber blocked whoever it was in the door way, but with the urgent whispers that swiftly turned into shouts, she knew who it was.

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"What are you doing here?" asked Amber angrily in a whisper. She had not expected to open the door to find this.

"I needed to talk to you. You have been avoiding me at school. You won't take my calls…"

"Maybe you should have taken the hint," Amber replied viciously.

"I can't. I can't give up on you…on us. Ever since we broke up I haven't stopped thinking about you and what jerk I was."

"Well, you were a jerk, so we agree on something, but I _really _I don't feel like talking about this right now, Brendan!"

"Please," pleaded the lanky, green-eyed brunette, "Just hear me out." He looked frazzled. He looked desperate. His hair was mused slightly and he appeared even thinner than he was in a large blue t-shirt and baggy cargo pants.

Amber ran one hand through her hair nervously, the other hand tugging at the hem of her pale green shirt as she spoke again, this time not as mad, but more desperate and said, "I really just can't do this right now."

Unknowing to either, or maybe because both didn't care, Rory and Jess were watching the fight from the far end living room.

"Is she okay?" asked Jess in a whispered question, tense in his overprotective father mode.

"Down boy," replied Rory, "this is something she has to do by herself."

"Can I come in," asked Brendan, in a last attempt at reason.

Amber glanced over her shoulder at her father for a millisecond before replying reluctantly in a flat tone, "At your own risk." She stepped back a few steps to let Brendan come in far enough to shut the door, but no further. "But your not sitting down," she added.

"Amber," spoke Brendan lightly, hopefully, "That thing you said, before we broke up,…we wouldn't have broken up over it…we wouldn't be feeling so bad right now if you didn't mean it, right?"

Amber crossed her arms over her chest, averted her eyes and blinked back some tears before answering with a scratchy voice, "So what? What's your point?"

"I-," Brendan cleared his throat, "I don't know if I love you."

"You came here to tell me that!" Amber said, slightly hysteric.

"No, wait. Let me finish. I don't know if I love you, not because I in anyway doubt my feelings for you, but because I really don't think I've lived enough to know what love is. But trust me, I have never felt this before, the feeling we have when you and me are us. I don't know if this is love, but if it isn't, then love must feel freakin' good if this is just infatuation."

Amber looked up at the boy, eyes glistening and with the tiniest of smiles on her face. "Why didn't you say that the first time?"

Brendan let out a long held sigh of relief before answering with a grin, "I didn't have the words before."

"Geez, you're slow."

"Am I forgiven already?" asked Brendan whined teasingly.

Amber didn't answer him right away, but instead, "Would you like to stay for lunch? If that's okay?" she added loudly over her shoulder, directed at her parents.

"Go for it," Rory shouted back.

"Lunch would be great," replied Brendan softly taking both of Amber's hand in his and thy both stared into each other's eyes as though they couldn't get enough.

"God. I won't be able to take it if they make out in front of me," grumbled Jess loudly from the background. Amber glared at he father scathingly.

"Come on," said Rory, dragging Jess to the adjacent kitchen by his shirt sleeve. "Leave the lovebirds alone. They are not going to do anything when we are in the next room."

"You're right _he's_ not going to do anything-"

"Jess." He sighed in resignation and sat down on a stool, Rory following his suit.

"So was that more or less romantic than, 'I think I fell in love with you all over again'?"

"Well," considered Rory thoughtfully, "It takes a lot to make you say something romantic, thus it is more significant when you do, but then again, he is sixteen."

"It was a rhetorical question."

"Then why did you ask in the first place." Jess would have rolled his eyes at his wife if he hadn't thought himself too mature and, for lack of a better word, cool. For a moment or two, he listened for noises in the living room and only heard laughter, so he thought it safe to relax.

"You know what?" said Rory suddenly.

"What?"

"I think it was wrong to compare Amber's boyfriends to my old boyfriends."

Jess raised an eyebrow, beckoning her to further explain.

"Devon is nothing like you except on the outside, so how can we call him 'a Jess.' You're smart and sweet and romantic and didn't try to take advantage of me."

"Wait. Try to take advantage…Why didn't I hear about this? I'm gonna find that punk and rip his head off!"

Rory put up a hand to calm him, "Jess. It's done. It's taken care of. Nothing happened."

Jess ground his teeth before agreeing halfheartedly, "If you say so."

"_As_ I was saying… Everyone is an individual. Brendan isn't 'a Dean-'"

"Yeah, he is much better," said Jess, glancing through the doorway to see his daughter smiling more brightly than he had seen her in weeks.

Rory nodded in agreement, "He's 'a Brendan.'"

Next chapter- the last one…tear…


	19. Chapter 19

**Aki-** Happy and sad at the same time is this bittersweet last chapter of 'A Walk in the Park' and yes, they go to the park. Read and enjoy. I thank all of you who started with 'Christmas Miracles' and stuck it all the way through to the end here.

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**What I always wanted**

It was a beautiful morning. The birds were chirping merrily outside and Mr. and Mrs. Mariano lay cozily inside their bedroom, sound asleep and peaceful…but not for long.

The light was suddenly turned on and someone jumped on top of the two in bed, making both grown.

"Get up, get up, get up…"

"Amber, you are much too big to do this anymore," groaned Jess trying to push her off, but to no avail.

"Wake up," whined Amber again, maneuvering into the gap between Jess and Rory ,

"No, no, no. Too early…," crooned Rory, trying to evade waking up.

"I'll give you ten minutes," warned Amber, climbing out of the bed and standing by the foot of it, "Until I come back with the bucket of ice water." And with that she exited

Rory half rolled over to look at Jess. "Do you think you should go through with that threat?"

"Have you met your daughter?"

"Getting up," said Rory, sitting up hesitantly in bed.

Jess also sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed, "Why did our daughter have to turn out so vindictive?"

"She gets it from you," replied Rory stumbling to her dresser.

"Even I'm not even this cruel."

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Not long later the two came out of their bedroom, rubbing their eyes and sloppily dressed. Rory spotted something in the corner of the living room and shook he head in disbelief.

"She actually had a bucket of water."

Amber came out of the kitchen looking cheery, "Hey, Mom, Dad."

"What was so important that we had to get up at the crack of dawn to do?" asked Jess in reply.

"A picnic," answered Amber as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"A picnic?" Jess questioned incredulously.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why?"

"Because."

"You know your sixteen, right?"

"Come on, when's the last time we've done something together."

"Um…yesterday."

"No, all three of us."

"Last weekend."

"Just the three of us."

"Just all the three of us?"

"It's been forever. So we're going to the park and having a picnic. It's already packed."

"You got us up to have a picnic?" said Rory in aghast. "I'm pregnant, I need sleep…and you're a teenager. Aren't you supposed to be tired all the time?... And! I can't drink coffee!"

"Stop complaining. You'll wake up fine when you're greeted with the cool breeze outside…By the way, you might want to bring a jacket."

"What?"

**Later at the park…**

The park was comfortably empty as the small family walked through it, trying to find the ideal picnic spot. Amber had recruited Jess to carry the sizable basket of food while he walked slowly behind the two girls.

Amber took a deep breath of the crisp morning air and reminisced for a moment. "It's a miracle," she muttered to herself.

"What?" asked Rory, confused by Amber's sudden statement.

"Oh, um, this, you know. Me and Dad and you and my future little bro or sis. Everything that I always wanted."

"And what was that?" asked Rory curiously.

Amber smiled and then stated matter-of-factly, "A family."

Rory observed her teen daughter for a moment and asked another question in genuine interest, "And that's a miracle?"

"Of course it is," explained Amber. "I've always thought so. I mean, it's not that crazy. All you need for miracles to occur is love…oh, the perfect spot." Amber ran over to claim a hillside under a tree. Rory paused on the sidewalk and watched as Amber and Jess, daughter and father, began setting up. Maybe, just maybe, it was a miracle, maybe that is what a family was.

Rory placed a hand on her stomach. Things were going to be different this time. Rory glanced up at Amber and Jess, blinking back a few pending tears. Things were going to be different from now on. She was going to be the mother she always should have been. She was going to be the wife that stood up for and stood beside her husband. And she was going to continue to be the daughter, the granddaughter, and the friend she should be.

But she still had a lot to learn, they all did. Although it seemed that Amber had a better grasp on life than she, and probably Jess, did. She wished everyday life could be as easy as this, as a walk in the pack and a picnic under an oak tree, but it wasn't. But really, thought Rory, that hard stuff, the tough lessons learned, the painful mistakes, those were the times that made moments like this so worth living.

"Mom, come on," whined Amber, waving Rory over, already comfortably reclined on the picnic blanket.

"Yeah, Rory, come on," added Jess, mimicking his daughter's tone, earning him an evil glare.

Rory smiled and understood instantly what her daughter had been talking about mere minutes ago. This truly could be nothing short of a miracle.

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Okay a few things. I'm not one to beg for reviews, wait, yes I am. Come on, push me over one hundred people. It's the last chapter of a series; the time to review is now!

Now that I'm done being weird. I have a C2 called 'One Shot Heaven,' for great or just really, really good one shots. Check it out. If you want to make a suggestion, leave it in a review, or e-mail me. If you want to join the staff, again, tell me in a review or e-mail me. It's simply a C2 for amazing one-shots of any ship or plot, angst or fluff or anything in between. I love stuff that is unique.


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